The Path Less Traveled
by Rittie
Summary: Aigis didn't defeat Death that faithful night of the year 1999. However, even she doesn't know what happened to it due to it's sudden disappearence. When the boy she saw that night returns to Iwatodai ten years later, no one will be left unshaken. [Minato-centric Persona 3 AU, later on Minato x Yukari and some Aigis pairing, as chosen by the reviewers/people who PM me. T - safe]
1. Burn My Dread (The Prologue)

**So I was thinking about this because I'm tired of the Aigis fanboys/fangirls. No, just kidding. It's an idea that has been swimming in my mind for quite some time and has nothing to do with Aigis - well, she will still be there but you get the drift... enjoy :)**

 _The Path Less Traveled_

 _~ Burn My Dread (The Prologue) ~_

"I will stop you, for it is my duty!"

A six-year-old Minato Arisato just stared as a strange blonde girl was attempting to battle some even weirder being, which let out an animalistic roar that made the little bluenette realize that - whatever it was - it was not human. When it seemed to raise a stick-like object it was holding, the girl clanched her teeth as her eyes swapt over the area, those blue eyes widening when she saw him.

"I... have no choice..."

But before she could do anything or even before he could comprehend what was going to happen to him, the weird thing let out another roar as it's eyes flashed a bright red before it vanished.

The flames surronding his family's car and the blue eyes of the girl as she ran towards him were the last things he saw before he collapsed.

 **~ x ~**

"Last stop... I repeat... last stop is Iwatodai Station..."

The teen sat in the nearly empty compartment as the woman's mechanical voice announced his stop. The left side of his earphones dropped out of his ear as he looked out of the window, seeing the beautiful island enter his sights. As he checked his watch to see what time it was, the train suddenly lurched to a stop, the voice speaking again.

"Last stop, Iwatodai Station. Please, ensure that you have all your belongings with you."

Minato picked up his things (he didn't have that many to begin with) as he exited the train, looking around the deserted area as he put the earphone back into his ear, when everything stopped working and started to colour into a sickly green.

"Hmm?"

Amused, the teen just kept walking, for this hour 'hidden' every day of his life ever since that night was completely normal to him. It was midnight and he was late. That simply wouldn't do as his trugged among the coffins, softly whispering the words to his favorite song as he did.

Somehow, he managed to get to the dorm without using any transportation. Staring up at the tall building, he felt a small chill run down his spine as he reached out for the door's handle.

"Don't be afraid." a strange boy in a stripped, prisoner-like outfit spoke to him as soon as he entered the green lounge. "This contract just bides you to your actions, as you well know, Minato..."

The boy's tone grew playful as the older one took the pen from him and wrote down his name:

' _Minato Arisato'_

 **~ x ~**

After what felt like hours, he finally heard someone's voice, long after Pharos (what the strange boy told him to call him) had dissappeared.

"Who is there!?" a brunette walked down the stairs from a floor above, narrowing her chesnut eyes at him in something akin to fright. "Who are you? It can't be...!?" she reached out for the gun that was strapped at right side.

"Don't!" an older voice nearly snapped as a red-haired girl - clearly older than them - joined them, admonishing the brunette as the green returned back to it's normal colours. "Welcome to the dorm." she smiled at him. "I am Mitsuru Kirijo. And this is Yukari Takeba. You must be our new exchange student."

"Is he?" the other girl - Yukari, he presumed - blinked before gazing at him again. "Hi, I'm Yukari..."

"I know." he spoke, amusement in his voice. "Kirijo-senpai just said so."

The brunette flushed at that but before she or Mitsuru could speak again, Minato did. Again. He really should feel bad about interrupting their clearly rehearsed speech but he couldn't find it in him to do so.

"Why do you have a gun?"

"H-huh? I ... uh..." he didn't miss her shooting a look towards the redhead, who answered Yukari's cry for help.

"It's for self-defense. You know how it is these days..."

"I do..." his eyes narrowed lightly at the forced smiles the two of them were giving him. "... where is my room?"

"Oh yes! Takeba, show him to his room, please." with that being said, Mitsuru left them be, vanishing upstairs again as the brunette sweatdropped before nodding, putting her gun away as she did.

"Let's go..." she led him upstairs to the second floor and then to the end of the short hallway. "... your room is right here. Easy to remember since it's at the end, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Minato opened the door and gazed in. It was simple and clean. Just as he prefered it. "... I won't tell anyone about the coffins or everything turning green, before you stutter about that."

Yukari gaped at him as he shut the door in her face. He needed his rest and would likely be nicer to her tomorrow when he wasn't dead tired from his trip. For now, he needed his rest and prayed to whatever God still liked him out there that Pharos would let him have a good night's sleep that evening.

He didn't. But at least it wasn't Pharos' fault. This time around.

* * *

 **So yes... some differences to the original plot ;)**

 **Minato remembers what happened that night from the start. Is he aware about who Pharos is? I will let you guys be the judges of that ... however, he is very much aware of the Dark Hour and his potential (as otherwise he figured he would be a coffin too so there must be something 'special' about him, after all)**

 **Thank you for reading and I hope you keep reading! :D**


	2. The Magician: Easy Prey

**I've been thinking of doing Aigis x Ryoji... oh there will be twists to this plot from what you are all used to, just a fair warning in case I didn't mention it before or anything like that... also, please tell me if I should change this fic to M or not. Persona is generally rated 'M' but I don't know ... moving on! :)**

 _The Magician: Easy Prey  
_

Minato was late for school the next morning.

He knew for a fact that Yukari had been trying to wake him up and walk him to school (as per their senpai's orders) but he had been a particulary deep sleeper the night before so making him move was almost impossible. Sighing, he didn't notice some random student - who would later on turn out be his classmate - until he nearly bumped into him.

"Hey!" the other spoke cheerfully. "You must be the new student right? The school's buzzing about you supposendly coming to school with Yukari-chan!"

"Yes."

"Are you two dating?"

The questions continued in a similiar manner and, by the time the eager student finished sating his curiousity, Minato was already gone.

 **\- afternoon -**

"Arisato-kun." his teacher's voice sounded frosty when he finally showed himself in front of her, right in the middle of class. Yes, he had been quite late that morning, it seems. "May I ask why you are late?"

"I slept in." Minato replied simply. He wouldn't blame Yukari for this. Waking him up at times was hard. The teacher huffed and directed him to sit dianogially from the brunette, who looked back at him in a manner that made him wonder why he didn't want her to feel any blame for what had happened... how strange. He lowered his voice to a whisper as the teacher - Ms. Toriumi - continued to teach whatever she had been teaching before he so 'rudely' interrupted. "I'm sorry about this morning. I can be a heavy sleeper..."

"It's fine." she replied. "At least you aren't as annoying as Stupei."

He didn't ask who 'Stupei' was for Toriumi's glare was now on them. And he had enough first day trouble to last him a life time.

 **\- after school -**

"Hey, Minato-kun." Yukari walked up to him after class as a sleezy-looking guy did as well. "This is Stupei. No matter, could I at least show you around Iwatodai's hot spots today?"

"Sure." he shrugged and walked away with her and 'Stupei' (who kept complaining about the name and telling him to call him 'Junpei' instead) before that annoying student from the front gates could try and talk to him again. For some strange reason, he couldn't force himself to talk to the guy. He seemed too unreasonable and simply dumb for his tastes. Junpei seemed at least funny dumb...

"Alright, we take the monorail..." the archery club member began her tour. "... and we arrive at Paulownia Mall! This is where most people our age spend their time after school! You got the arcade, karaoke ... there is an antique shop as well but that won't be open for a while. There is a club, too, but that isn't for us quite yet..." she joked as Junpei and Minato followed her silently, the latter simply absorbing the information while the former was just bored, already knowing all that she could say. "So, what do you wanna do first?"

"I do have some mad singing skills!" Junpei boosted.

"Sure, let's go to the karaoke bar then." Minato spoke up, wondering why he felt so close these people who were supposed to be basically strangers to him... "Altough, I'm not the best singer around, so you will have to excuse my horrible singing."

"It's fine! neither am I!" Yukari laughed, shooting a mock glare at Junpei, who began leading them towards their destination, chatting about whatever he did that day as the brunette teased him for it.

He felt strangerly comfortable in their presence.

 **\- evening -**

"Welcome back."

Kirijo-senpai's voice greeted him and Yukari as they walked into the well-lit dorm, having spent the whole afternoon chuckling at Junpei's antics. The archer subdued a little (that spiked his interest a bit, did they not get along?) as she nodded back at the older teen before heading towards the dining table, picking up some book she must have been reading the day before. Before Minato could speak, Mitsuru cut across him.

"You should go to bed. You are tired, having just moved here, aren't you?"

He shook his head but something in her eyes told him that arguing would be a mute point. Sighing to himself, Minato bid the girls good night before heading upstairs to his room. He undressed and got into his PJ's and into bed right away, having felt strangely tired during the whole day, and closed his eyes as a clock resounded in the distance.

 **\- midnight -**

"I feel horrible doing this..." the brunette bit her lip as she watched the monitors signaling her new friend's (or at least she hoped so) current state - which was weirdly normal for this time of the night - and looked away. "... it doesn't feel right, spying on him like this."

"I agree." Mitsuru, who was sitting on a chair in front of the command bank, spoke. "But it's crucial. We need to see if he has the potential."

"Besides, Yukari." an older man spoke from the shadowy part of the command room. "Wouldn't you like it if you had a friend of your own age around you without having to keep it a secret?"

"I do... but..."

The alarm sounded as Akihiko Sanada's voice was heard with the abilities of the redhead's Persona.

"Mitsuru speaking."

"You won't believe how big this one is!" the other senior was happy with that, Yukari could tell that much. "... I think I might have led it to the dorm..."

"What!?" as the alarm's sounds grew louder, Mitsuru turned towards the archer with a sharp look in her eyes. "Takeba, go and wake him up. Also take your weapon with you and give him one too, just to be safe."

"But what about you, senpai!?"

"I will fight it." she replied simply. "And so will Akihiko, since he led it to us." she turned to stare at the man. "Ikutsuki-san, I will have to ask you to stay here." she was back looking at Yukari's retreating back, so she couldn't have seen the calculating look in the chairman's eyes.

"Y-Yes, of course!"

 **\- x -**

"H-Hey!" Yukari was pounding on Minato's door. "Wake up! It's an emergancy this time! I'm sorry, but I will go in!"

"H-Huh?" the blue-haired teen blinked sleepily as he stared at the brunette, who was now thrusting a sword into his hands and dragging him by the elbow out of the room and into the hallway. "What's going on?"

"There is no time to explain, just hold onto that sword and stay close, we should go down-..."

"Takeba!" Mitsuru's voice was heard over the girl's walkie-tokie. "Do you read me? There is more than one enemy! The one we are fighting is not the one Akihiko saw! It could be anywhere, so stay alert and be ready to fight!"

"U-Understood!" Minato watched as she shakily clutched the bow and arrow that she had equipped to herself and nodded. "We will do as ordered!"

A loud crash made her drag him all the way up the stairs and to the rooftop, where she closed the door but didn't look it. He was about to question her about that when they heard slimey sounds - as though something was climbing their dorm from the outside - the brunette's wavering hand reaching to her hip, where something like a gun was holstered.

"You are not going to...!?" he asked.

"W-what? N-no, there is no time to explain!" Yukari looked nervous but also determinated. "Don't worry..." she gazed at the huge, black blob that was supposed to represent something, but what was impossible for him to tell. "... I can use mine..."

Minato watched in stunned silence as she ran forward, bow at the ready as she fired a shot, managing to connect it to it's target. While the thing cried out in pain, the impact looked like it did the bare minimum of damage. It made him realize one thing.

He couldn't let her fight this alone.

Gulping as the girl's gun - no, it wasn't a gun, or so she at least claimed (so what was it?) - rolled towards him in their battle, for whatever the girl meant when she said 'I can use mine', she appearently either couldn't or it wouldn't do them any good. With battered breath, he reached down and took a hold of the cold hilt, pressing it to his temple as Yukari screamed at him to not do it while at the same time trying to keep the enemy away from him. But she didn't have to worry about that, for all was clear. At least to Minato.

 _"Per-so-na..."_

The brunette could only stare as a Persona arose above the other teen, causing her to become easy prey to the monster, allowing it to slam her away with one of it's many hands. Her scream of pain made Minato shiver in disguised rage. This wouldn't do, whatever he had summoned didn't feel like it was strong enough to take this thing out... he had to...

 **\- x -**

Yukari gasped as she regained her footing, carefully holding her bow as the blue-haired silent teen began to shout in such that it made her dizzy. Mitsuru's worried breathing over the walkie-talkie cleared the brunette's mind good enough for her to dodge another attack. As she raised her weapon to attack again, something else arose from Minato's Persona, something to awful-looking that she couldn't even find it in her to describe. What followed was something that she would rather bury and forget, too.

The new being almost flew up to the Shadow and began to tear it apart, inch by inch, arm by arm as the archer slowly joined the other's side, checking for any visible injuries she hoped she could have Io heal. Her silent pleas for him to tell that he was _alright_ went unheard over the moans of pain the enemy was producing as the life (or whatever drove them) in it faded away, leaving only one barely moving arm that was quickly splashed into nothingness by the new Persona (for she didn't know what else to call it), which let out a roar of victory before disappearing back into the more ... tamer... looking one. But even that one felt like danger to Yukari now and, as she shivered, she knew something had to be said.

"I-Is it over?"

Just as the Persona vanished too, a roar sounding much like the Shadow beforehand (but much smaller) cried out in what looked like anger as smaller forms began to crawl towards them. The brunette guessed that answered her question.

"Don't worry." she stood in front of Minato. "I will protect you...!"

"No." his voice was tired but determinated. "We will fight it together. It would be foolish of me to let you fight them alone... at least this time."

She could only blink as he clutched the sword - which he hadn't dropped despite all the stuff that happened - and she held the bow, hoping that she wouldn't slow him down as they headed into battle with the two smaller Shadows.

There was a lot to be explained afterwards. It wouldn't be fun.

 **\- x -**

Akihiko and Mitsuru were looking at the screen again, wondering how Arisato was able to use Takeba's evoker, summon a Persona, have said Persona change, awake the brunette's fighting spirit or just fight in general. He was supposed to be new to this, after all. As he watched the two gaping teens, Ikutsuki chuckled to himself as the light made his glasses look menacing.

"Oh my... this boy seems to be more interesting then I thought he would be..."

* * *

 **So... as you can see, some small changes. Basically, my take on the game and what I thought should have happened as I played it. It might not make much sense now, but I hope I will be able to explain how Yukari found the strength (and the common sense to bring her bow) to fight... oh well, hope you enjoyed it guys!**

 **Don't worry, this format (like, 'after school' and stuff) will only be used in chapters in which they will face Full Moon bosses. But the next one is a month away so there is nothing to worry about!**

 **Thank you for reading! :)**


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